Iraqi journalist shot dead in Baghdad

New York, September 9, 2011--The
Committee to Protect Journalists condemns Thursday evening's killing of Iraqi
journalist, filmmaker, and playwright Hadi al-Mahdi in Baghdad and calls on Iraqi authorities to
immediately take steps to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Al-Mahdi, radio show host and critic of the government, was
shot dead in his home on Abu Nawas
Street in the Baghdad neighborhood of al-Jidida on Thursday
evening, Agence France-Presse reported.
The Associated Press reported
that a police officer said the journalist had been shot by gunmen using pistols
outfitted with silencers. Witnesses at the crime scene told Human
Rights Watch that they saw no evidence of a struggle or theft and that the
journalist's valuables were left untouched. CPJ is investigating to
determine whether the death was work-related.

"Iraq
remains one of the most dangerous places for journalists to work, and the Iraqi
authorities' record of impunity for journalist murders is dismal," said CPJ
Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "With this murder, a strong independent voice
in Iraq
has been silenced. Those who carried out this killing cannot go unpunished."

Al-Mahdi
had a thrice-weekly radio
show on the independent Radio Demozy called "To Whoever Listens," which
covered social and political issues in Iraq including government corruption,
bribery, and sectarianism. In May 2010, the journalist told The New York Times, "They tell me not to
talk about politics." A close friend of his told CPJ that he had been calling
on the government to provide better water, electricity, and public services for
the Iraqi people. Al-Mahdi also had a Facebook page that organized pro-democracy
demonstrations in Baghdad
every Friday and had been planning one this Friday. He had written on his
Facebook page that he had received several threats through social media and on
his cell phone.

In
February, al-Mahdi was arrested along with several other journalists at an
anti-government protest in Baghdad
and reportedly beaten, blindfolded, and threatened with torture, CPJ reported.
Iraq continues to be one of the deadliest places for journalists to work in. Since
1992, 150 journalists have been killed in Iraq, including five journalists killed
in 2011 alone, CPJ research
shows.